An entrepreneurial model of economic and environmental co-evolution

A basic tenet of ecological economics is that economic growth and development are ultimately constrained by environmental carrying capacities. It is from this basis that notions of a sustainable economy and of sustainable economic development emerge to undergird the ‘standard model’ of ecological economics. However, the belief in ‘hard’ environmental constraints may be obscuring the important role of the entrepreneur in the coevolution of economic and environmental relations, and hence limiting or distorting the analytic focus of ecological economics and the range of policy options that are considered for sustainable economic development. This paper outlines a co-evolutionary model of the dynamics of economic and ecological systems as connected by entrepreneurial behaviour. We then discuss some of the key analytic and policy implications.

Reverse Moderate Relativism Applied: Third Generation International Human Rights from an Islamic Perspective

This article develops my reverse moderate relativist theory on the universality of human rights, which I proposed in an article forthcoming in the ILSA J. Intl. & Comp. L. In this prior work, I argued that the debate over the universality of international human rights norms is too constrained, and that the three most popular theories in the universality debate – universalism, strict cultural relativism, and moderate cultural relativism – are each conceptually flawed. Universalism is untenable, because it eliminates the tensions between various cultures simply by ignoring them. Strict cultural relativism is unsatisfactory, because it discredits the whole field of human rights, which may not be necessary. Moderate cultural relativism, such as that practiced by Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im at Emory University, first appears the most attractive, because it accepts differences in culture but still strives to find a core group of universal norms. But, moderate cultural relativism cannot be complete because, in attempting to create and expand this list of core shared rights, it treats the international norm as the neutral benchmark to be achieved, with dangerous neo-colonialist implications. I proposed a new theory, reverse moderate relativism, which seeks also to develop a core set of shared rights concepts across cultures, but does so “in reverse,” beginning with other legal systems as the neutral benchmark to be achieved by international human rights law. This present submission is the culmination of a year of Fulbright research in Morocco, in which I attempt to develop my theory of reverse moderate relativism in the Islamic paradigm, analyzing the extent to which the newest generation of human rights, the third generation solidarity rights, represent developing universal values based in non-western traditions. Finding a strong basis for, and rich understanding of, third generation rights in Islamic law, this article concludes that whereas other scholars have noted the complexities posed by the status of third-generation solidarity rights as “group rights,” the real complexity lies in their component of individual duties. In Islam, where the individual is the vicegerent of God, a steward responsible for the interests of the community, individual duties to fulfill third generation solidarity rights become significantly stronger than their aspirational equivalents in international human rights law. Because the secular human rights movement lacks any equivalent unifying force or compliance pull on individuals, the move towards solidarity rights is all the more remarkable, but also significantly more fragile. Rather than criticizing the development of third-generation solidarity rights, international human rights commentators should recognize them as developing universal values, supported by traditions such as Islamic law

Book Review: The Many Faces of Power: An International Law Response to Robert Kagan’s “Of Paradise and Power”

After summarizing the main points of Kagan’s book, the review responds to Kagan’s perception of power using the assumptions of international law, contrasting his definition of power to that of several international legal scholars. It then places Kagan’s realist approach in a broader context of international relations and international legal theory, beginning with a discussion of challenges to realism, and concluding with an examination of the growing body of “integrationist” literature which posits that the fields of international law and international relations are merging. The review then returns to the question of power, examining ways in which Kagan’s book challenges international lawyers to consider how military and doctrinal power interact. Finally, the review concludes by agreeing with Kagan that the current rift between the US and Europe is likely to grow, but disagreeing on the result: Whereas Kagan foresees a world where the all-powerful US eventually disregards Europe, its former friend which is no longer of any strategic use to US interests, this review foresees a world where the powerful rules-based society of the European Union will continue to grow, creating a potent counter-balance to the US

Growing immigration has meant Canadian unions have had to learn how to better represent migrant workers

In the past decade, the massive increase in the number of migrant workers coming to Canada has forced the country’s trade unions to rethink their traditional approaches towards representation. Jason Foster and Alison Taylor write that trade unions had little precedent of how to respond to the large upswing in migrant numbers, and that their responses have ranged from those who help employers take advantage of migrant workers to those who defend their rights and help them to gain language and other skills

DOES RURAL JOB GROWTH LEAD THE ECONOMY OUT OF RECESSION?

This paper explores the dynamics of rural and non-rural job growth to investigate if job growth starts in rural places, making it one of the leading indicators of economic growth. Empirical results provide mixed evidence. The mixed results of the Granger non-causality tests could be sensitive to the non-rural area definition. The relationship between rural job growth and non-rural job growth is not restricted to post-recession periods. Analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data suggests the spillover effects of non-rural growth are larger than the spillover effect of rural growth on non-rural areas. But this positive response of rural growth disappears over time and turns sharply negative. In the long run, "backwash" effects outweigh "spread" effects.Community/Rural/Urban Development,

A New Perspective On The Universality Debate: Reverse Moderate Relativism In The Islamic Context

The goal of the human rights movement to formulate a jurisprudence of rights valid for all of humanity is considered laudable by some,\u27 offensive to other

Solo - Projection Mapping

Projection Artists Luke McConnell and Jordan Foster will project a multicoloured lightshow onto the clockface, roof and walls of St Peter’s Cathedral. Wintec Tutors McConnell & Foster plan to transform the Hamilton night skyscape this Christmas with their projection work entitled ‘SOLO’. Solo is a piece designed to complement the Victoria street Christmas revellers taking in the sights of the Garden Place Christmas tree and the Trees at the Meteor art exhibition. One seamless image across the surface of the building by linking three powerful 7k projectors. The animation will interact with the forms of the building with a particular focus on the clock tower - which should be visible from quite a distance. The projected animation invites the viewer to think about the connections that we make during this busy Christmas season. Hamiltonians too get caught up on the silly season and rarely get a chance to stop and think. ‘Solo’ will encourage people to think about how they can better connect with others in their community. The animation will run for about 5 minutes and will loop over the evening

Micro-meso-macro

Abstract.: Building on the ontology of evolutionary realism recently proposed by Dopfer and Potts (forthcoming), we develop an analytical framework for evolutionary economics with a micro-meso-macro architecture. The motive for reconception is to make clear the highly complex and emergent nature of existence and change in economic evolution. For us, the central insight is that an economic system is a population of rules, a structure of rules, and a process of rules. The economic system is a rule-system contained in what we call the meso. From the evolutionary perspective, one cannot directly sum micro into macro. Instead, we conceive of an economic system as a set of meso units, where each meso consists of a rule and its population of actualizations. The proper analytical structure of evolutionary economics is in terms of micro-meso-macro. Micro refers to the individual carriers of rules and the systems they organize, and macro consists of the population structure of systems of meso. Micro structure is between the elements of the meso, and macro structure is between meso elements. The upshot is an ontologically coherent framework for analysis of economic evolution as change in the meso domain - in the form of what we call a meso trajectory - and a way of understanding the micro-processes and macro-consequences involved. We believe that the micro-meso-macro analytical framework can greatly enhance the focus, clarity, and, ultimately, power, of evolutionary economic theor

Vibronic coupling in the superoxide anion: The vibrational dependence of the photoelectron angular distribution

We present a comprehensive photoelectron imaging study of the O₂(X³Σg⁻,v′=0–6)←O₂⁻(X²Πg,v′′=0) and O₂(a¹Δg,v′=0–4)←O₂⁻(X²Πg,v′′=0)photodetachment bands at wavelengths between 900 and 455 nm, examining the effect of vibronic coupling on the photoelectron angular distribution (PAD). This work extends the v′=1–4 data for detachment into the ground electronic state, presented in a recent communication [R. Mabbs, F. Mbaiwa, J. Wei, M. Van Duzor, S. T. Gibson, S. J. Cavanagh, and B. R. Lewis, Phys. Rev. A82, 011401–R (2010)]. Measured vibronic intensities are compared to Franck–Condon predictions and used as supporting evidence of vibronic coupling. The results are analyzed within the context of the one-electron, zero core contribution (ZCC) model [R. M. Stehman and S. B. Woo, Phys. Rev. A23, 2866 (1981)]. For both bands, the photoelectron anisotropy parameter variation with electron kinetic energy,β(E), displays the characteristics of photodetachment from a d-like orbital, consistent with the π∗g 2p highest occupied molecular orbital of O₂⁻. However, differences exist between the β(E) trends for detachment into different vibrational levels of the X³Σg⁻ and a ¹Δg electronic states of O₂. The ZCC model invokes vibrational channel specific “detachment orbitals” and attributes this behavior to coupling of the electronic and nuclear motion in the parent anion. The spatial extent of the model detachment orbital is dependent on the final state of O₂: the higher the neutral vibrational excitation, the larger the electron binding energy. Although vibronic coupling is ignored in most theoretical treatments of PADs in the direct photodetachment of molecular anions, the present findings clearly show that it can be important. These results represent a benchmark data set for a relatively simple system, upon which to base rigorous tests of more sophisticated models.The authors gratefully acknowledge support by the National Science Foundation Grant No. CHE-0748738 and ANU ARC Discovery Projects under Grant Nos. DP0666267 and DP0880850

Protostellar Evolution during Time Dependent, Anisotropic Collapse

The formation and collapse of a protostar involves the simultaneous infall and outflow of material in the presence of magnetic fields, self-gravity, and rotation. We use self-similar techniques to self-consistently model the anisotropic collapse and outflow by a set of angle-separated self-similar equations. The outflow is quite strong in our model, with the velocity increasing in proportion to radius, and material formally escaping to infinity in the finite time required for the central singularity to develop. Analytically tractable collapse models have been limited mainly to spherically symmetric collapse, with neither magnetic field nor rotation. Other analyses usually employ extensive numerical simulations, or either perturbative or quasistatic techniques. Our model is unique as an exact solution to the non-stationary equations of self-gravitating MHD, which features co-existing regions of infall and outflow. The velocity and magnetic topology of our model is quadrupolar, although dipolar solutions may also exist. We provide a qualitative model for the origin and subsequent evolution of such a state. However, a central singularity forms at late times, and we expect the late time behaviour to be dominated by the singularity rather than to depend on the details of its initial state. Our solution may, therefore, have the character of an attractor among a much more general class of self-similarity.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, To appear in MNRAS, Memorial paper for M. Aburiha